- Person
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Lived
- b. 1984
- Field
- Technology
- From
- American
The story
By 2013 Mark Zuckerberg was still in his twenties but already one of the wealthiest people in the world, following Facebook's public share offering in May 2012. In 2010 he had signed the Giving Pledge, promising to give at least half of his wealth to charity, and in December 2012 he and his wife Priscilla Chan said they would devote most of their fortune over their lifetimes to advancing human potential and promoting equality.
They began with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, based in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2006 through the merger of two Bay Area community foundations, it serves Santa Clara County and the San Francisco Peninsula and manages donor-advised funds, which let givers set money aside and recommend grants to charities over time. On 18 December 2012 the couple gave it 18 million Facebook shares, then worth about $500 million.
A year later, on 19 December 2013, Zuckerberg announced a second gift of another 18 million Facebook shares to the foundation, to be completed by the end of the month. At Facebook's share price at the time, the donation was worth about $990 million.
Later that month it was recognised as the largest charitable gift on public record for 2013. The Chronicle of Philanthropy placed Zuckerberg and Chan at the top of its annual list of the 50 most generous Americans for the year, having given roughly $1 billion to charity. Zuckerberg was 29.
The gifts were the start of a sustained programme of giving. In October 2014 the couple gave $25 million to the CDC Foundation to fight the West African Ebola epidemic, and in February 2015 $75 million to San Francisco General Hospital. That December they announced plans to give 99 percent of their Facebook shares over their lifetimes to the new Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
The 2013 gift set a benchmark for younger technology founders, showing that large-scale philanthropy need not wait until the end of a career.
Why it matters
The gift created a large, long-term fund for charitable causes and set a benchmark for philanthropy by younger technology leaders.
About Mark Zuckerberg
Co-founder of Facebook/Meta; defined the social era of the internet.
More about Mark Zuckerberg
- Zuckerberg and Chan founded Biohub with $600 millionIn 2016 the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative gave $600 million to create Biohub, a research centre in San Francisco linking scientists at UCSF, UC Berkeley and Stanford.
- Zuckerberg co-founded the Breakthrough Starshot projectIn 2016 Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Breakthrough Starshot with Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking, a research project to develop tiny light-sail spacecraft that could reach another star.
- Zuckerberg and Chan gave $75 million to a public hospitalIn February 2015 Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan gave $75 million to San Francisco General Hospital, the biggest individual donation to a US public hospital.
- Zuckerberg and Chan gave $25 million to fight EbolaIn October 2014 Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan donated $25 million to combat the West African Ebola epidemic.
- Zuckerberg pledged 99% of his Facebook shares to charityOn 1 December 2015 Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan pledged to give 99% of their Facebook shares, then worth about $45 billion, to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
- Mark Zuckerberg signed the Giving Pledge in 2010In 2010 Mark Zuckerberg joined Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in signing the Giving Pledge, promising to give at least half his wealth to charity.
Mark Zuckerberg in the news
- October 7, 2026Zuckerberg and Chan's Biohub assembles $1.8 billion push to build an AI 'virtual cell'
- July 8, 2026Zuckerberg-Chan Biohub uses CRISPR and AI to find new psoriasis drug targets
- April 29, 2026Zuckerberg- and Chan-backed Biohub commits $500 million to open data for AI cell models
Sources
- Mark Zuckerberg Wikipedia
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation Wikipedia
Another act of tikkun olam. This is part of tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world, and every one of us can add to it.